


In Too Deep

by multifanfictual



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:01:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22249843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/multifanfictual/pseuds/multifanfictual
Summary: Nino Lahiffe has it all figured out... until he finds out Marinette is Ladybug. Alya Césaire has it all figured out, too... until she finds out Adrien is Chat Noir. Stuck between loyalties of friendship, fame, and love, watch our core four get into all sorts of crazy hijinks with plenty of love square moments along the way.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 8
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I've been playing with this story in my head for a while now and I'm finally going to get it out on paper (or, rather, on Google Docs) and published. The episode order is so messed up I can't exactly tell which ones I'm cutting out, but the most important things are that Lukanette and Adrigami aren't as canon as they have become, Chloe's character redemption has not been tossed out a window, any high quality love square moments that happened are actually put towards more development and bonding, and Master Fu is still the guardian. As things progress I might clarify or add a more structured timeline as to when all this is happening. I think that's all for now- hope you enjoy!
> 
> (Also, unrelated, but go check out my recent one-shot "Last Friday Night" if you're looking for some Adrienette fluff content!)

Marinette loved being Ladybug. Really, she did. The way her suit clung to her form perfectly, fitting like a second skin. The way her hair flowed as she freely ran upon the rooftops of Paris. The way her heart would glow each time she saved an akumatized victim.

But why did she always have to be so tired?

Being a teenager was taxing enough without having to save an entire city on the side. This particular night, just as she was finally getting some rest, Marinette was dragged out of bed to deal with the Sandman  _ again _ . She didn’t know if she hated Hawkmoth more for stooping so low as to mess with innocent kids or for interrupting her delicate sleep schedule.

Definitely the kids.

Well, probably.

The battle itself didn’t take long一even without Chat or Ladybug Vision, it wouldn’t have taken much effort to strategically outmatch a seven year old一but transporting the frightened child back home and ensuring his safety did. Luckily, they had remembered the boy’s address from the last time he was akumatized, so Ladybug arrived at his house promptly. But soothing his distressed parents had been another story. Marinette had to lock herself in the bathroom and recharge Tikki so that she could retransform and have time to answer all their questions with a clear head.

After graciously accepting several rounds of thanks, Ladybug was finally on her way. Exhausted as she was, she had to appreciate the beautiful Parisian skyline, drifting off the direct course back home to linger a while on the rooftops and take in the scenery.

“What are you still doing  _ meow-t  _ so late, M’Lady?”

Used to Chat Noir’s antics, Ladybug simply smiled at his voice, not in the least bit startled or concerned. “I could ask you the same, Kitty.” She turned and found him sitting on the opposite edge of the roof, facing away from her. Her pigtails swung as she swiftly crossed the distance and swung down to sit beside him, for the first time noticing the subtle clench in his jaw. “What’s wrong, Chat?”

He pushed a smile onto his face. “Nothing much,” he replied. “Just… have a lot on my mind, I guess.” 

“Anything a nice friendly  _ chat _ can solve?”

Chat Noir doubled over laughing. “That joke was  _ purr-fection _ , M’Lady,” he said. “I must finally be rubbing off on you.” His chuckles faded out as the smile ran away from his face. “But, to answer your question, not really. My fatherー” he stopped himself before revealing too much. “Anyway, it’s nothing you need to be burdened with.”

Ladybug frowned. “Chat,” she whispered, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “You know how I feel about us keeping our identities a secret, and of course that limits how much you can tell me about your life.” He turned his head, looking straight into her eyes. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m always going to be here for you.”

Chat smiled slightly. “Thanks, Bugaboo,” he said. “It’s really nice to hear someone say that.” He turned away and looked towards the Eiffel Tower, shame written across his face. “Without revealing too much… my father just expects a lot of me. Sometimes I feel like there’s three versions of meーthe one he wants me to be, the one everyone else sees, and the one I really am. I just wish that I could be my own person without disappointing him or anybody else. There are so many people counting on me to be this… perfect guy. And I really don’t know how much longer I can keep up the act.” He blinked quickly, as if waking up from a stupor. “SorryーI’m so sorry,” he stammered. “I said too much, I must have made you uncomfortableー”

“Chat,” Ladybug interrupted. “I get it, really. It’s okay.” She looked in the opposite direction, turning so their backs were pressed against each other. “I guess I can’t complain about my life. But sometimes, I feel the same way as you. I feel like everyone wants me to go on a different path. I feel stretched so thin. And I know they’ll support me in whatever I decide to do, but… I just don’t want to let anyone down, you know?”

Chat Noir twisted and gently turned Ladybug’s face towards his so that their faces were only a breath away. “I know,” he whispered, warm breath tickling her lips. 

Ladybug’s heart raced. Why was she so…  _ affected  _ by Chat Noir all of a sudden? Sure, she had noticed from time to time the lean muscles underneath her partner’s suit, and the way his laugh lit up his whole face, and how his golden locks glistened under the sunlight. But Adrien was the one she liked….

Right?

“IーI should go!” she squeaked, jumping to her feet in a moment of panic. “

Chat Noir stood up shakily. “Y-yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Better get going.” He extended his pole and leaned against it, mouth opening and closing as if he had more to say, but didn’t quite know how to find the right words. The two stared at each other, unsure of what to do next.

“Bye, Ladybug,” Chat decided on simply, vanishing into the night.

“Bye, Chat Noir,” Ladybug murmured, words resting on the silent skies.

She sighed to herself as she began her route in the opposite direction of Chat, making her way back towards home.  _ What was happening with her?  _ In that moment, looking at Chat Noir, it was almost like it was Adrien who was standing in front of her. Nobody else but him had ever made her feel that way. But Chat Noir was just her partner. A friend. The guy she had always pushed away. Nothing more. But at the same time, Chat was more like her than she knew.

In essence, of course, Marinette and Alya could tell each other everything. Except Marinette could never talk about her life as Ladybug. As much as she hated to admit it, Chat understood her in a way nobody else could. Sure, they occasionally had sub-in heros, but he alone knew what it was like to be on constant beck and call, to always have to fight battles even when it wasn’t inconvenient, to hold life in the palm of your hand and be burdened with the task of protecting it. They were just teenagers, tasked with saving an entire city. And Chat Noir knew what it was like… 

_ No.  _ Adrien was the one for Marinette. Nobody else. Maybe it was simply hormones that were getting the best of her. The next time she patrolled with Chat, she would bring a nice basket of  _ Can-We-Forget-About-What-Happened-Last-Time-And-Just-Move-On  _ croissants and all would be well. Yes, everything would go back to normalー

_ BANG!  _ Ladybug slammed into a pole and landed on a cold roof, startled. She shook her head and regained her surroundings. She was never this clumsy as Ladybug. This Chat dilemma was really getting to her.

Blinking stars out of her eyes, Ladybug slid off the roof and into the adjacent alley. Maybe she just wasn’t in the right mindset to be a superhero. She would detransform, and walk home the short rest of the way. And by the time she woke up, the whole incident would be out of her mind. She could return to daydreaming about Adrien hopelessly day after day. It was a simple plan, really. A split-second decision.

But it became oh-so-complicated when a startled Marinette and Tikki both met the widened gaze of none other than Nino Lahiffe. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "omg I need to know whats going through Nino's head rn" -Oryans
> 
> And so you shall....

The trash bag in his hand dropped to the ground with a soft  _ thump. _

Tikki coughed. “Well, I think, uh… I’ll leave you two to sort this out.” She fled with a pink flash, leaving Marinette to fend for herself. 

“Nino, I know this looks… er, bad… but please, try not to overreact—”

Too. Late.

Nino stumbled backwards, mind racing at a million miles per minute. He’d met and worked with Ladybug before, of course―was friendly with her, even―but at the end of the day she was still… well,  _ Ladybug _ . Each time he was running with her crew, he felt like he’d won some lottery to tag along with a celebrity for a day and spent half his energy trying not to say or do anything to ruin it. And now, standing in this cold alleyway on what he had thought was just a regular night, he was suddenly smacked in the face and forced to consolidate Ladybug and Marinette into the  _ same person  _ and he still couldn’t believe it and everything just felt so crazy and did Alya know about this and what about Adrien and how was he going to keep this secret and pretend everything was fine and why was she―

“―even here?” Nino blurted angrily.

Marinette blinked. “W-what?”

“Why,” Nino repeated more softly, “are you even here?” His voice began to crack. “Of all the alleys in Paris, why did you have to detransform in this  _ exact one _ ?”

Suddenly defensive, Marinette backed up. “Well, sorry if I didn’t expect anyone to be out and about at three in the morning. What are  _ you  _ doing, anyway?”

“I woke up and realized I forgot to take out the trash,” Nino said, gesturing obviously at the bag still on the ground. “My mom would have killed me, she hates when I forget these things, you know― _ but that’s not the point! _ ” he snapped. “The  _ point _ is that you have this… this huge secret, and you’ve been keeping it from me!”

“I could say the same thing about you…” Marinette looked around quickly. “ _ Carapace _ ,” she hissed.

Nino grabbed Marinette’s wrist and pulled her into a small alcove further into the alley. “How dare you risk my secret identity like that?” he seethed.

“How dare you risk  _ mine _ ?” she shot back, sharply pulling her arm from his grasp.

At a standstill, the two simply glowered at each other, chests quickly rising and falling with harsh breaths in perfect tangent. Their eyes communicated what their mouths couldn’t, firing mental insults back and forth. The tension and anger continued to wrap around itself and build into the air until finally, like a rubber band, it snapped.

“I’m sorry,” they blurted in unison. And just like that, the spell was broken.

Coming to some odd understanding, Nino and Marinette deflated together, clothes tugging on their backs as they slowly slid down to sit on the cold ground, releasing the tightness they had been holding in their muscles. They sat that way for several minutes, not speaking, just soaking in the refreshing coolness of the Paris night as they stared at the brick wall in front of them. After what felt like a minute and an hour at the same time, Nino broke the silence.

“So,” he said carefully. “This whole time, you’ve been…  _ her. _ ”

“Yeah.”

“And so you also knew that I’m…”

“Yeah.”

“And you… you chose me to…?”

“Yeah.”

He released a slow breath. “Wow,” he said simply. “I know I might have overreacted, it’s just… a lot to take in all at once.”

“Understandable,” Marinette agreed, nodding slightly. She paused for a moment, smiling faintly at sudden memories. “The first time you met Wayzz, you were so calm about it,” she reminisced. “I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering it was you, but… I was really impressed.” She laughed. “The first time I met Tikki, I almost had a stroke.” Suddenly, the image became unbearably hilarious, and Marinette doubled over with manic laughter, tears streaming out of her eyes. Nino looked at her for a beat like she had grown a second head, then burst out cackling himself. The two continued to fall into hysteria until their tears ran dry and breathing evened out once more.

“It all feels like so long ago,” Marinette remarked when they had quieted down. “But it really wasn’t. I guess time flies when you’re having fun―well, and under the never-ending pressure of having to save Paris from destruction.” She looked over at Nino. “You’ve always been so much more chill than me. Like with Wayzz.”

“Yeah, I guess I am chill,” he chuckled. “Except for tonight, that is.” He looked down at his hands and anxiously jiggled his knee. “I just have one more question.” He looked back up. “Does… does Alya know?”

“No,” Marinette said quickly. “Look, Nino, I know this is hard, but you have to understand. Just in the same way you can’t tell anyone you’re Carapace, I can’t tell anyone I’m Ladybug―except the consequences are way more severe. Carapace only comes out every once in a while, but I fight Hawk Moth all the time. If he were to find out my identity, he could use my loved ones against me.” Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “Alya is my best friend in the entire world. I haven’t told her not because I don’t trust her, but because I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if… if something happened to her and it was my fault. Hawk Moth will stop at nothing to get what he wants.” She choked.  _ “Nothing. _ ”

Marinette looked up and met Nino’s concerned gaze. “I’m sorry,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “That was probably the worst way to tell you that you’re put at major risk by knowing my secret. I wasn’t even thinking about―”

“Hey,” Nino cut her off. “It’s alright. I’m not worried for myself. I mean, what’s life without a little danger, right?”

Marinette burst back into tears.

“I’m sorry!” Nino squeaked. “Not funny, not funny,” he muttered, pulling Marinette gently against his side. “What I mean is, I’m worried for you, how you’ve just been… bottling up all these feelings inside.” He smiled. “I mean, give yourself some credit here. You beat yourself up for not being ‘chill’ or whatever, but what full-time superhero could ever just relax?” He spread his arms wide. “You’re  _ Ladybug _ !” he whisper-yelled, making Marinette giggle. “You’re so much better than just ‘chill.’ You save the world practically every day, fighting Hawk Moth and saving innocent people. And here I am, just some poor old schmuck forgetting to put the garbage out.” He looked into her eyes earnestly. “And I understand the whole Alya deal. You know she means the world to me, and I would never do anything to put her in danger. Besides, you’re my friend too. I would never give up your secret identity. Ever.”

Marinette nodded and brushed her sticky hair out of her eyes. “Thanks, Nino,” she said with a smile, standing up to stretch.

Nino followed suit. “And look… if you ever need someone to talk to about all this… stuff… I’m always here. It’s not healthy to keep things to yourself.” He grinned devilishly. “And now you have someone you can tell  _ all _ the details to.”

“Two people,” Marinette corrected matter-of-factly. “Tikki!” she called.

The bright pink kwami appeared from around the corner. “So, did you… figure everything out?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t listen to every single word we said. I know you heard it all.”

Tikki blushed and quickly turned to Nino. “Well, it’s been nice to meet you officially, but we better get going,” she said, effectively changing the subject. “And  _ you’d  _ better go and pick up that trash bag before it’s morning.”

“Right you are, little dudette,” Nino laughed. “But, before you go…” he said imploringly.

“...you want to see me transform,” Marinette filled in flatly. Nino nodded excitedly like a little boy. “Fine,” she huffed. “Spots on.” She was surrounded by a flash of pink light and then, just like that, she was Ladybug.

“So totally epic,” Nino whispered.

Marinette chuckled and shook her head, unable to pretend to be annoyed any longer. “See you around, Nino,” she said before vanishing into the night.

“See you around, Ladybug,” Nino said to the sky.

By all means, Marinette’s life should have just become even more complicated than it already had been…. Yet flying across the rooftops of Paris, she felt free, as though a massive weight had been pulled off her shoulders.

The next morning, she searched within herself and only found a strange sense of relief.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you so much to everyone who has given the support! Your encouragement means the world to me. Secondly, SO SORRY FOR THE MASSIVE DELAY! Originally, I was planning on just doing Marinette and Adrien POVs for this story, but a comment (Oryans shoutout #2!) inspired me to include Nino in the mix. I've always felt like there's such a bigger opportunity for a close friendship between Marinette and Nino, and I think a Nino POV, while it hadn't been part of the original brainstorming, is the perfect way to execute this. However, they turned out to be SUCH a hard nut to crack as I found myself trying not to cross the line between close friendship and romance, because this series is strictly loyal to the Love Square. (If I did cross that line, PLEASE TELL ME!) Going forward I think I'll definitely have to do Alya POV as well because a) wouldn't be fair to leave her out and b) I think she'll have some interesting things to say about certain people... wink wink... Anyways, this has been my unnecessary background/rant. Hope you enjoyed and I'll be working hard to release Chapter 3 ASAP!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY, I AM BACK! So sorry for this ridiculously long delay. I thought quarantine would give me so much time to write, but then family stuff, school, and APs got in the way... groan. But I should be posting more regularly now! Just hang with me. :)

“Marinette, are you  _ sure  _ about this?”

“Yes, Tikki,” Marinette said for the hundredth time that morning, rolling her eyes slightly in exasperation. “Nino is a good friend of mine, and he’s handled being Carapace just fine. It’s going to take some adjusting, but he won’t spill the whole Ladybug deal.”

“You’re right, Marinette. I’m sorry. It’s just…” Tikki wrung her tiny hands nervously. “I’ve seen things go wrong with past Ladybugs. No matter how trustworthy Nino may be, this secret can be dangerous. If Hawkmoth finds out Nino knows your identity, it could put both of youーand all of Parisーin danger. I don’t want anything to happen to you, or anybody.”

Marinette smiled softly and held out her cupped hands for Tikki to snuggle in. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, too,” she assured her. “And I know the situation isn’t ideal, but there isn’t much I can do now. We’ll just have to be super careful. Don’t worry, everything will turn out alright.”

“Okay,” Tikki allowed. “But at least promise me you’ll tell Master Fu about this?”

Marinette averted her gaze.

“ _ Promise? _ ”

Marinette groaned and set her kwami down. “Tikki, we can’t!” she pleaded. “Master Fu might want me to give up being Ladybug. I could never do that!”

Tikki looked unconvinced.

“We wouldn’t see each other anymore either!” Marinette added quickly. “I can’t say goodbye to you! I understand why you’re worried, but the best solution is just to handle this the best we can. Together. Right?”

Tikki huffed. “Right,” she said reluctantly. “I don’t want to lose you, either. But you have to know you’re in a really risky situation. It could end in disaster.” She shook away all the darkness behind those ominous words with a bright smile. “Now we’d better get to school!”

  
  


Marinette anxiously bit her lower lip as she arrived at François-Dupont. Sure, she’d been confident before, but after some time mulling over what Tikki had said, her nerves had begun to get the best of her. It didn’t help when the first person she saw as she entered the courtyard was none other than Nino Lahiffe. How many times had she longed for a safer world where someone could truly see her full self, with and without the mask? Yet now that it had actually happened, she just felt so…  _ exposed. _

“Hey, Marinette,” Nino said slyly, giving a not-so-subtle wink. 

“G-good morning, N-Nino,” Marinette stuttered back in a nervous voice typically reserved for Adrien. 

Alya appeared out of nowhere. “Hey, girl!” she squealed, hugging Marinette around the waist before turning to Nino. “Babe,” she drawled softly, pecking him on the cheek. “What’s up, guys?”

“Nothing!” Nino and Marinette blurted in unison.

Alya raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in question. “Are you…. hiding something?” she asked slowly, causing the guilty party’s breath to stop. Time froze for a moment before she broke the silence with a loud snort. “Ha, as if!” she giggled. “You two couldn’t keep a secret if your lives depended on it.”

Nino and Marinette sighed in relief. “Yup, that’s us!” Marinette said too brightly, cheeks still pink from Alya’s inquisitive gaze. “Horrible secret keepers! Could never hide anything! Definitely nothing going on thatー”

“What up, dude?” Nino cut in loudly as Adrien entered the circle. Marinette shot him a quick glance of thanks. 

“Not much, and you?”

“I’m good.”

“Adrien morning good!” Marinette yelled suddenly. “I mean good Adrien morning! Morning Adrien good! I meanー” She slumped over and sighed, giving up. Just another blunder to add to the long list of times she’s made a complete idiot of herself in front of her crush. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Adrien responded cheerfully with a small wave.  _ It’s a small mercy he at least never notices how completely moronic I am,  _ Marinette thought to herself, mind drifting from the conversation.  _ Or maybe he  _ does  _ notice and he just doesn’t show it because then he would have to acknowledge that I like him and he doesn’t want to let me down because he’s so sweet like that andー no, snap out of it, Marinette! _

“...so amazing!” Alya was saying as Marinette returned to reality. “What do you think, Marinette?”

“Sorry, I, uh… what?” Marinette stammered.

Alya paused for a second, then shook her head and continued. “I was saying how my parents are going out of town this weekend, so I might be able to put together a little something, uh…  _ special  _ with a few people on Friday night. And it just so happens Adrien’s dad is also going out of town on a business trip until Saturday evening and Nino doesn’t have to watch Chris because he’ll be at a sleepover, so that just leaves you. Are you in?”

There was NO WAY. What was Alya even thinking? Marinette knew the type of “special” gathering the redhead had in mind, and there wasn’t a chance in hell she would be a part of it with Adrien there. He would think she was crazy! He would never talk to her again! Marinette was just opening her mouth to turn it down when she glanced at Adrien’s face. So full of hope. He hardly ever got chances to hang out because of his father, and the more the merrier….  _ Ah, crap. There was no way she could say no. _

“Sure,” Marinette sighed, giving a weak smile.

“Great!” Alya squealed. “I can’t wait!”

The toll of the warning bell to get to class matched the rumbling in Marinette’s stomach.

  
  


After casting glares at Alya all day, zoning out in class, and evading her parents’ questions, Marinette finally slammed the door to her room, pressing her back against it and sinking to the floor in despair.  _ What have I gotten myself into? _

“Marinette!” Tikki reprimanded in her rare lecture voice, saved only for the most special of occasions. “I thought we agreed on  _ no more partying!  _ You remember what happened the last time, don’t you?”

Marinette nodded guiltily. She did, all too well. She’d actually let her hair down for once and had a little too much alcohol-enhanced fun with Alya when suddenly an akuma attack broke out. As if finding an excuse to get out of there wasn’t hard enough with her muddled, booze-filled brain, she had then spent the next hour stumbling around and tripping over her yo-yo to Chat Noir’s alarm. They were lucky they had an inexperienced opponentーa small child who got angry in a time-outーbut the incident had been a wake-up call for Marinette. She had to be responsible. No. More. Alcohol. And yet…

“Then why on Earth did you say yes?” Tikki yelled as loudly as her squeaky voice could muster. “What happens when Hawkmoth strikes again and you’re not in the right state to fight it? Being Ladybug isn’t a part time job!”

“I  _ know  _ that, Tikki, I just…” Marinette flopped onto her pillow and moaned. “I just can’t stay away from Adrien.”

Tikki softened. “I know, Marinette,” she soothed. “I know.” She sighed. “Against my better judgement…. you have my blessing to go.” Marinette looked up suddenly in surprise. “I guess you’ll need to learn how to juggle a normal teenage life with being Ladybug. Just be careful. And…. I suppose you can lean on Nino for help now.”

“Oh, thank you, Tikki!” Marinette exclaimed, jumping up and holding her affectionately. “I won’t let you down!” She kissed her on the cheek and ran out of the room, suddenly feeling hungry after getting her worries off her chest.

“I know you won’t,” Tikki said softly to the empty air, but there was concern in her eyes.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, admittedly I don't think this is my best work, but I really wanted to get a chapter in for you guys! If you have any suggestions or notes, please let me know in the comments or message me! I have a general idea of big points in the story, but I'm still figuring out how I want to put small things in between-- hopefully I should be posting more regularly soon, though!


End file.
